


Golden Rebellion

by Sun_Kasai



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series, RWBY
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-08-23 03:56:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16611461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sun_Kasai/pseuds/Sun_Kasai
Summary: Yang Xiao Long lives in an unjust world. Punished for a selfless act she is now sent to Mistral where she is supposed to rot away as an unwanted stain on society. But in a twist of fate, Yang gains the chance to change the injustice of the World. This is the story of how the Golden Dragon became the Leader of the Phantom Thieves. A new Trickster has arrived. Let the Game begin.





	1. The End of the Phantom Thieves?

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: hello and welcome back everyone to my very first crossover. I know… another story? Well I got no excuse. I just have an ever-changing Fantasy. Now I won't say much now. I try a new format of writing so you will have to see the end of the chapter for notes.
> 
> With that said… have fun and I hope you enjoy!

_The World is not as it should be._

_Filled with distortions, ruin is everly impending._

_Distorted desires of the sinners, suffering brought upon the innocent and undeserving acts of good will being punished by society._

_It almost seems as if it is the Worlds very fate to fall down into the abyss, drowning in their misery and doomed to suffer ruin._

_But a world standing at the edge of despair, will always have Heroes awaken to protect it. Heroes who will have hope as their guide, their hearts as their biggest strength and who will fight to steal the World back from those who brought it down this destructive path._

_Those people, who desire change and oppose destiny, are called Tricksters._

_This is the story of one of these Tricksters._

_But will she succeed in her trials?_

* * *

The Alarm rang loudly in the Casinos walls.

Something must have happened but what? It was all the people thought as some hurried to collect what little they had gained through gambling and some others what little they still had left. The security of the place was hurrying, shouting commands at each other and checking their weapons in case they were needed.

And the culprit for all this was right above their heads.

Above the anxious people was a small figure, jumping from platform to platform, no matter if belonging to a very large slot machine or a chandelier. It seemed to be nothing but a yellow/golden blur.

Than the blur stopped…

Standing atop the Chandelier the figure finally stood still. It was a young woman, wearing the mischievous smile of a Cheshire cat. Long blonde hair fell down her back like a waterfall of liquid gold and beautiful purple eyes looked down upon the masses. They were hidden beneath a colombina, a half mask worn by those women who were not afraid to show their true self. The mask was golden in colour and in such detail decorated, that one could assume it was out of reptilian scales.

She wore a yellow corset that left some part of her midriff open, the emblem of a burning heart was emblazed on it right above where her heart lay. An open, sleeveless dark gold jacket accompanied it with two long gold-trimmed rectangular detachable tails going down from it, like a coat or wings belonging to a fantastical creature. Her neck was covered by an orange scarf. A black belt covered by a pleated black piece of material reached from hip to hip around the back of her waist above yellow shorts. On her left hand was a single blood red glove and on her left shoulder could be found a dragon-shaped mark. Her right arm however was completely different. Instead of a metal prosthetic like it would usually be, a golden scaled dragon arm was revealed to the world, giving the girl a beast like look. The claws, strong enough to cut through metal, gently held a silver briefcase. Kneehigh dirty yellow boots and a purple piece of cloth tied around her left leg completed her look.

Two security guards noticed the woman. Not enough for her plan to work. With that in her mind she grabbed behind her something was carried by the belt on her hip. Now the mysterious girl was holding a handy but very effective shotgun.

With two shots in the air, chaos broke out. The masses panicked and hurried to get to safety, blocking the security in their path by accident, who was now all alarmed and shouting at each other to capture the intruder.

Smiling even wider, the girl jumped on top of another platform, honeycombed and purple. Now she was ready for the plan.

She heard a voice through her earpiece. Not just one but multiple, those of her trusted partners in crime.

" **Good. Now get running!"**  said what appeared to be a youngish boy.

" **This is our only chance!"**  came from another boy.

" **Stay calm! You can get away now!"**  spoke a girl, younger than the others, except maybe the young boy.

" **We will retrieve the treasure on our end. Be careful not to get caught."**  this voice belonged to a stern woman, always making extra sure that everything would go according to plan.

"… **suspects…not confirmed… hold your positions… the Thief… capture alive…"** this was another frequency. They were really giving their best to catch her. Too bad. For them.

"You guys better be careful too." That was the beastly girls reply.

" **Don't worry about us. Just focus on getting away leader!"**  reassured her the boyish voice.

"You got it." was her own answer as she jumped onto a translucent purple fixture. The voices of her comrades still being in her company.

" **But I gotta say, showing yourself above the crowd was a very excellent distraction. Nice work as always Ace."**

The girl, now revealed to be known as Ace, allowed herself a small second to enjoy the praise.

" **I bet King wouldn't be able to pull it of that smoothly."** A new voice, this one being a kind of teasing girl.

" **Hey! I could totally pull of some jumps!"**  spoke a boy who was now known as King in protest.

A different young man couldn't resist the temptation and made fun of it.

" **But you lack the grace for it. It would more look like a sloth falling from a tree."**

" **No one asked you Lotus!"**  King snapped at him. Lotus could only chuckle.

"There she is!" She turned around. Some of the man had now managed to get through the crowd and were trying to climb up.

In alarm the young girl could be heard once more.  **"Just run! Get out of their!"**

Choosing to comply, Ace continued to run. Her team may be panicking but she was not. She showed no fear as she jumped across a series of arches. Allied voices resonated in her ear once more.

" **Okay the enemy still focuses on her. That means we can all slip away unseen."**

" **So where do we all meet up again?"**

" **I got it! Outside the Casino is a safe zone, I guide you all there."**

A quick motion and Ace swung herself over a balcony, overviewing the player area. But she was not granted even a second to catch her breath. Before her three guards stood, strong and prepared to strike her down. She gladly accepted the Challenge with a smirk.

" **Take em down Ace!"**

"You got it sis." And with that all words were spoken, her eyes changing from calm purple to wild, fiery red. Two of the guards rushed her. She avoided the strike of a baton and twirled her body, with one precise kick the guard was send over the balcony, crashing down on a Poker table. The second guard was not even granted a moment to attack or think as Ace slammed the briefcase into his belly and swiped his legs. One throw later and the second guard joined his partner on the broken Poker table.

The last guard, the biggest of them all, charged at her, prepared to avenge his comrades. The blonde jumped high into the air in response, flying like a majestic bird, she landed on the Guards shoulders, reaching down to violently grab his 'face' before ripping it away! The scream the 'guard' made was like sweet music to her ears.

She jumped of, granting the 'guard' a moment as it was enveloped into shadows, black particles surrounding it and moving, shifting. It was then that the 'guard' revealed its true form. That of a bull like creature, starring down at the girl with murder in his eyes.

" _A Moloch heh? Nothing I can't deal with."_  she thought as she throw the briefcase in the air. Her monstrous claw ready, she slashed at the beast, knocking it down with a uppercut. The beast groaned and prepared to engage, as feeble as it may be. A stream of fire erupted from its mouth, aimed right at Ace who didn't even bother to dodge. Instead she grabbed her golden mask…

"Persona!"

And with that one word spoken a being appeared before Ace, weaved in so many flames its form was unrecognizable for the human eye. It took the brute force of the fire without being faced. When they subsided the Moloch looked dumbfounded, scarred even. Ace almost felt pity as she gave the command to attack. With claws much like her own the creature grabbed Moloch by its horns RIPPING it apart by them. Moloch screamed as it could feel its death was coming. Soon two parts of the creature were lying on the floor and as it slowly dissolved, the silver briefcase she had thrown in the air came down again. Ace catched it without even looking, smirking the whole time, as her eyes changed back to purple.

" **Good, you defeated them with ease."**  commented the youngish boy.

" **Crap! More of them are approaching you're position."**

Like always there was no time to relish in small victories. Already a different 'guard' was running at her, where he had appeared from she had no clue. Not important.

The 'guard' was raising his arm, baton in hand that buzzed with electricity. But the beastly girl dodged it with an unexpected grace, back flipping out of harms way. Vaulting herself onto a platform behind her, jumping onto a higher balcony.

" **Ace behind you! Go through the door! Then the second left!"**  The girl she so affectionately called sis directed. Ace followed without wasting a second thought. She knew that her sister could be trusted.

She ran through the door and the dark corridors. Avoiding the sight of the other 'guards'. Still, her worry for her teammates was all to present.

"Is everyone of you still okay?"

" **No problems here!"**  King replied. Something that managed to put her at ease. If he was okay than the rest had to be too. It was uncommon for him to NOT be the first one affected if something goes wrong.

" **Don't worry about us sis. I pick up everyones signal."**  her 'sis' calmed her as well. With that in mind she walked faster and faster, becoming nothing but a golden blur. She jumped so quickly up the stairs it might as well be considered flight.

Her way, directed by her comrade, ended at another door. She kicked it open and clutched at a railing… wait railing? She was on one of the balconies again!

" **Something wrong? The exit should be up ahead."**  her sis asked.

This got a reaction out of the blonde. "You mean through the window?"

There indeed was a window… on the other side of the hall.

" **It's the only way. After all the ruckus you created the floor is completely closed of. You think you can make it?"**

That now sounded like a challenge. The familiar smirk returned to her face. "Who do you think you're talking to?" she heard a giggle on the other end of the line.

"Stop right there!"

" _Wow they are persistent."_

Snapping her head around Ace saw multiple of the casino 'guards' once more. Guns raised and pointed straight at her. "There is nowhere to run. Surrender immediately!"

" _Good idea but I have a better one."_  was all the thought she spared the 'guards'. Before one could even blink she held a small orb in her hand. She threw it with deadly accuracy at one of the 'guards'. It immediately went of, covering the whole hallway in white smoke. Their coughs were like a triumphant Orchestra as she leaped onto the railing, running on it and approaching her exit point.

The 'guards' cursed as the smoke subsided and they got a final glimps of the mysterious woman. Her words of parting were spoken sheepishly.

"See ya!"

And she jumped.

Through the window.

The beautiful formed glass broke into thousands of pieces around Ace, her arms held forward to protect her fell to her side as she soared through the air. Not flying but elegantly falling you could say.  **"What a show-off."**  her sis commented.  **"You're way to reckless you know that?"**

Yes, yes she knew. Not that it ever stopped her anyway. Or that her team ever really minded. They knew what she was capable of, her flair for the theatrics was not much of a problem.

She ended her leap of faith with a roll, her escape successful. She allowed herself a moment to enjoy it, the glass around her falling and shattering. Ace stood up and faced away from the Casino…

As thousands of lights blinded her. Lights from… the Police! Actual Police not the 'guards' of the Casino!

This was… less than optimal. Her comrades agreed. She could hear their panicked voices over the earpiece.

" **There are enemies here!? These readings. How is this possible?"**

" **Whats wrong!?"**

" **What happened!?**

" **They had an ambush planned!"**

" **Oh no!"**

" **This is bad."**

" **Ace get out of there!"**

The girl starred at the small army in front of her, not unfamiliar to a deer caught in the lights of a Car.

That last warning was all she needed to snap out of it. And she ran. She ran as if she was hunted by the Devil himself. Searchlights trailed her every step. Swinging herself up the ladder of a fire escape she did her best to climb up. Sadly it was in vain. Her eyes widened behind her mask as she reached the top and several officers already awaited her.

"Oh fu-"

Her curse was interrupted by one of the man ramming his gun into her temple. The force was strong enough to make her tumble, losing her grip on the ladder in the process. She fell, deeper and deeper down, right before the Police men. As if they were a bunch of hyenas they rushed her, pushing her down, before one of them managed to tie her down with a set of handcuffs, through her wild struggle.

"Didn't expect to find some girl." One of the braver police man commented at the downed Thief. He knelled down beside her, looking her dead in the eye, he grinned. Grabbing her by the hair to make her look directly at him, he ignored her angry hiss. Instead he talked more.

"You have your teammate to thank for this blondie. You were sold out." The shock was not hidden by the mask.

The man released her hair and then…

The world went black.

* * *

 

"Guess the drug was to strong."

"Are we sure we shouldn't just let her sleep though?"

"You know exactly that we need to get a confession out of her. Come on don't be a pussy and help me wake this bitch up."

"Hey this bitch is one of the most wanted criminals of the decade! She can somehow make you suffer a mental shutdown, steal your heart and who knows what else. Besides haven't you heard about what it was like when she was arrested? Her clothes were completely different and her arm… her arm was covered with scales or something. This girl isn't normal."

Voices… they sounded very distant. Where was she? Who were they?

"Yeah, yeah whatever."

She could her him grab something. The next second she was drenched with water. Eyes wide open from the cold she looked around in haste. Everything was blurry. Finally her vision focused on two men before her. One of them held an empty bucket. She wanted to stand up but couldn't. Her arms were chained behind her back by… handcuffs? She struggled harder at realizing this.

"You still don't get it huh?" The man throw the bucket into a corner of the dark room. Threateningly he advanced towards her. "Give it up!" he kicked her in the belly, with enough force to knock the air out of her and make her fall to the floor. She pulled harder at her cuffs. She did NOT like the idea of being helpless around these people.

She growled as another impact followed. This time he put her shoe on her head.

"Come on cooperate. Or do you want another shot?" she was getting a headache. Not only from this bastards foot but from whatever they had injected her with. Angry tears ran down her checks. Her eyes suddenly focused on a camera in the corner. The man in front of her followed her gaze. He shook his head and kneeled down lifting her up by her hair (some deep part inside her told her that she hated this). He smelt like alcohol and her face twisted from it. "What about the Camera. You think it can be used as evidence?"

Evidence? For what? For how these asshole was treating her? She had no idea. She couldn't even get the words out. Instead she focused everything she had on memorizing the men's face. If she ever gets out of this she would definitely make him pay.

"Didn't you hear me?" he let go of her hair. "Answer!" Only to continue ramming his foot into her belly. She coughed in pain. Some spit was coming out of her mouth and she hunched forward, wheezing at the attack.

The man ignored her whimpers and instead grabbed a clipboard from his so far passive partner. All the while the girl tried her hardest to not throw up and deal with the pain.

"Do you have to be so rough? She is still a kid!" She heard the passive Police man complain. "Shut up!" was all he got as a response. "She isn't a kid. She is a criminal. One of the worst this world has seen as well. You want to protect children? Well how many died during the accidents she caused?"

" _Accidents? I… I caused accidents?"_

Loudly the aggressive man read out the things on the clipboard as his partner cowered away. "Obstruction of justice, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons… manslaughter too."

What? Manslaughter?

" _I… killed someone?"_

"And to think all these crimes were led by a bitch like this." the man scowled at her a last time. Anger in his eyes. "And you seemed to be enjoying every second of it too."

The blonde was confused. Just what was going on here? She would never kill someone. What did these people want? Where even was she?

" _Why… why would I enjoy it?"_

He flicked his hand, giving a sign to the other suited man in the room. The passive one leaned down and unlocked her cuffs. She was surprised at this act of mercy but realized what it was for when the scary one approached her, saying something about confession under her name, while handing her the clipboard.

Something sparked inside her at this. For a brief second she wasn't confused or scared. She was only angry and wanted to show him, in SOME way, that he didn't get through to her. She pushed the clipboard away, a simple but effective gesture.

"I see." he commented, only more angered by her small act of defiance. "You know… it's kinda sad that you need to have this arm prosthetic. Must have sucked losing an arm."

She… lost an arm?

He was right. Where her right arm was supposed to be there was nothing but metal. When did that happe-?

She had not time to think about that further as she screamed in pain. Her leg was aching. The culprit of her misery being none other than HIM again. Slamming his foot into her knee he rubbed the pain in. As if he was some kind of deranged doctor. "It would be a pity if you end up losing a leg too."

He released her leg. She could feel her anger rise. This time she accepted the clipboard and a pen. The man left her like this with one last threat. "Don't expect to walk out of here in one piece. We're going to make you understand. One must take full responsibility for their actions."

Even in this hazy, drugged, pained state she was in she could muster up the strength for a cold look in the man's eyes. She half expected to be punished for it again, but instead he left her alone, to write this confession.

So they needed her name.

Her name.

What was her name?

Come on focus. Focus! She was…

She was…

Finally after a lot of attempts she managed to write her name. 3 small words all with four letters each:

Yang Xiao Long.

* * *

 

Things were blurry again after that. Everything went by so fast. The two men took her confession and left the room, the psycho of the two giving her one last glare, before leaving her alone to lick her wounds.

There were so many. She couldn't see all of them but she knew that her face must be a mess. She could feel them. Some blood was probably the reason why her shirt was clinging to her. Either that or the sweat and water made it so. Probably both.

It was cold. So... very... cold.

Everything hurt. Her head, her legs, her arm, her belly it… it all hurt.

How long has she been here?

The door opened again and Yang weakly raised her head. Thankfully it weren't the two men from before. Instead… a woman with white hair entered the room. White hair… why does that strike her as familiar?

The woman sat down on the chair in front of her, shock was visible on her face before she caught herself. Her eyes searched around the room and Yang followed her gaze, right to where a used syringe lay. So she really was drugged.

"Disgusting." was all she said to comment on it. Immediately Yang was finding this woman a lot more sympathetic. She hasn't beaten her so far and even seemed angry at them. This was probably as good as it was going to get as long as she was… here…

Here… where was here?

She had the feeling like she should know where she should be. She was forgetting something. Something very important.

Her train of thoughts stopped as the woman spoke once more. "I wouldn't have expected it to be you."

Yang didn't know how to answer to that so she just shrugged. The woman with white hair (seriously why did this strike her as important!?) leaned over the table. "Can you hear me? It seems they put you through a lot." Yang nodded. She was doped up on whatever chemical they had put in her but she was able to at least hear.

"Good." said the mysterious woman. "Because I need you to understand something." Her face immediately became stern and… concerned for her? "Almost anything can happen here. And I lack the authority to stop any of them. This is why I need you to answer my questions honestly. We don't have much time. I am the only way out you have."

Yang believed those words without a doubt. This woman in white was very likely the only person in this whole… wherever… that didn't want to skin her alive for some reason. It would probably be a lot better to cooperate with her. At the very least, she preferred her over the guy from before.

She wanted to answer… as something striked her. Out of nowhere, like a flash of lightning.

She… she KNEW this woman!

White hair… white… Weiss (wait who was Weiss?)… Weiss's sister?

"Alright Winter." her mind finally managed to scramble together. A small success. Winter seemed pleased by this as well. "Good so you are able to remember things." Winter smiled for a brief moment and soon adopted her professional tone once more. "Now I need you to tell me everything. Why did you cause those incidents. Who are the Phantom Thieves of Hearts? How is it even possible to steal someone heart?"

Aaaaaaand there went her moment of success.

Yang had no idea what Winter was talking about. Incidents? Stealing hearts? And what the hell is a Phantom Thief!?

"What kind of World did you stumble into?"

Yang would like to know THAT too! What kind of world did she ran into that it lead her to land here!?

Winter could see the confusion of Yang. She sighed and, now using a more comforting tone, spoke again. "Relax and start from the very beginning."

The beginning. Where even was the beginning?

Yang thought hard. She felt like her head was about to explode.

Something happened in that moment. There was nothing but a dark void surrounding her. Nothing but herself… and a small blue butterfly, flying calmly around her. It spoke in a soft and gentle voice.

" _ **You are held captive. A prisoner of fate to a future that has been sealed in advance. This is truly an unjust game… your chances of winning are almost none. But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you… I beg you. Please overcome this game… and save the world."**_

Wait… saving the WORLD!? She just remembered the names of herself and one person! How would she save the whole World!?

" _ **They key to victory lies within the memories of your bonds. The truth you and your friends grasped. It all began that day when the game was started half a year ago."**_

Half a year? Just what happened? Yang tried to remember but it was all like a fog in her mind. Nothing clearly visible. All hidden beneath drugs and illusions.

" _ **For the sake of your worlds future as well as your own… you must remember."**_  was the last she heard of the beautiful blue butterfly before she disappeared and the World came back to her, the black void disappearing.

Concentrating, Yang began to see something. She slowly started to remember, started to see through the fog…

And thus Yang's journey through her memories began.

And she reminiscent back to the craziest year of her life.


	2. Game start

**April 9**

Yang Xiao Long was certain that she was cursed.

Be it a family curse that somehow ended up in her bloodline, a particularly mean witch trying to teach her a lesson or just the Universe being an ass, some higher power must really get a kick out of seeing her suffer. That was really all she could think of to make some kind of sense out of her life.

Speaking of, if one were to ask the young woman how her life was at the moment, she would say it was likestanding in the middle of a thunder storm with no cover and lightning hitting you each time you try and take a breath.

Sadly even that was probably an understatement.

If this is all some kind of attempt of a previously mentioned witch to have her see some error or character flaw or have her learn a moral lesson, than it was a SERIOSULY FUCKED UP way to go about it.

What even was the lesson of this metaphor? Don't be a good person because the world will do what it can to punish you?

Maybe something along those lines.

Yes this must be it. The world hates Heroes, or people who actually try and stand up and do something about bad things happening to others. The world must hate people who genuinely want to do good and the world must see it has its personal mission to punch them to the ground and kick them while they were down, aiming to make their life as miserable as possible.

Otherwise she wouldn't be here, contemplating about curses, sadistic witches or feeling bad for herself. Otherwise she wouldn't have been sitting in this goddamn train and always switching between public transportation for the last 20 hours!

She knew that Mistral was far away from Vale but her knowledge sadly didn't lessen the amount of time she had to remain stuck in this train now did it?

Yang recalled some of what was happening in her trip, all the while gazing upon Mistrals beautiful wildlife, out of sheer boredom. She had to take a Taxi to the port of Vale, than take a ship over to some port city on the outskirts of Anima she forgotten the name of, take another Taxi to the Train station and THAN ride the Train until she would FINALLY arrive in Mistral, also known as her prison for the next year.

At least the train was nice. It was a large one meant for longer travels with extra cars for things like restaurants and other pastimes, especially when one was able to have their own cabin. It was the equivalent of being brought to Hell via a limousine.

Okay maybe she was exaggerating a bit now… last time she checked Mistral wasn't known for hot climates. Just her luck. She did not look forward to finding out how cold Mistral could get in the winter months.

"Really, there has been another mental shutdown?"

Yang was pulled out of her thoughts, by the voice of a girl just outside her cabin. It was slightly muted by the glass but she could still make out clearly what she was saying. The girl didn't seem much older than herself. She looked like she just came back from a vacation and was now returning home. That was what Yang assumed at least from her 'I love Vale' T-shirt (great... even more reminders of what she lost). Next to her was another girl, her friend perhaps. She was holding her scroll in hands, likely that was how she found out the news.

"Yeah, here it stands." The girl showed her something on her scroll, "Some big head of a company hit it this time. There even pictures already online. Happened on a conference party too. It's so gross. All that black liquid-"

Yang decided to just ignore the conversation and continue thinking. These mental shutdowns were more than weird to her. They happened more often and often lately. There wasn't even an explanation for why these things happened. Doctors just pinned it on Psychological stress. Was there some other meaning to all…

"Yeah, here it stands," the girl showed her something on her scroll before speaking again. "Some big head of a company was hit this time. There are even pictures online already. Happened at a conference party too. It's so gross. All that black liquid-"

Yang decided to ignore the rest of the conversation and continue thinking. These mental shutdowns were more than weird to her and were starting to happen more frequently. Even worse was that there wasn't even a true explanation on why these things were happening! Doctors just pinned it on Psychological Stress.

 _"NOPE! Nope, nope, nope, NOPE! You are not even going to waste any more time thinking about this! "_  Yang mentally berated herself and her stupid curiosity.  _"Don't be so naive again. Someone else can take care of this. You don't need to save every damn person you come across. Hell, maybe it's something you don't even need to do! It's probably just some kind of burnout or whatever. What were you even thinking? That some evil mastermind is behind some people dying because they were overworked or something? Just… let… it… go."_

She had these conversations with herself a lot already, now if only she could get it through her head…

It always goes like this: She ends up stumbling into something she shouldn't or seeing someone do something they shouldn't. Then when all is finished, it was her that got the backlash for trying to do the right thing.

From there, one of two things would happen: she would end up befriending the person who she helped out and they would become friends. However, when she was the one in trouble her so-called friends would drop her like a hot piece of metal and not even waste a second of their time hearing her side of the story.

The other scenario was that she wouldn't end up friends with the person she helped. Instead, the troublemaker would go to her dad, or the headmaster and she would be the one in trouble. While the actual villain gets away pretty much unharmed, sparing what Yang would have done already.

And why? Because no one likes a hero.

No matter what anyone might say when it comes to heroes: how this person changed their life, how their life was saved by this 'hero' and how more people should act like them, the general population will hate you for being one. In one breath they will praise you for coming to their defense and in the next, tear you down for causing them to realize just how cowardly they truly are.

And why? Because no one likes a Hero.

No matter what everyone may tell, no matter how many times they go on and on about how Heroes and upstanding people changed their lives, no matter how many times they say that people should act like these person and do things like that person, no matter how many tell you that they admire them and aspire to be them, they will hate you for being one.

Because the general population is weak or tired, and they don't have the guts to back up those empty words. People would rather go on with their lives like sheep to the slaughter and heaven help you if you fall out of line. That is what society wanted; a herd of sheep that would act yet not have a brain of their own.

So no… no she wouldn't even think about doing anything about mental shutdowns. It's not like it was important for her anyway.

…

Though with that being said, there was one mental shutdown that did affect her, the head supervisor of the Vale Airport. His death caused everything there to stop, which was the reason why she couldn't just take a plane to Mistral. Some random guy she never knew was the reason why she was on this goddamn train in the first place.

Well… that wasn't exactly right she had to admit. It wasn't just some random person suffering a mental shutdown that put her in this train.

It was however a random, drunk, petty, a little bit too horny, arrogant, prideful, vengeful, despicable bitch that put her on this train.

"Damn brat! I'll sue!"

The words replayed in her mind. Yang grit her teeth as a wave of white hot anger overcame her. It was her fault. It was all HER fault. Slamming her fist into the wall of her cabin, she heard the girls from before yelp a little before running away.

Yang glanced down at her metal fist, the yellow and black prosthetic almost putting a hole through the wall. She cursed herself for losing her temper again, but with what happened that day, it was not easy controlling herself after everything that happened.

* * *

 

She only wanted to walk home after a long day at school. Some bully thought it was a good idea to steal a kids lunch money while she was present. About as stereotypical as it could get in terms of 'crimes' but it still set her of. Being told to apologize to the bully she threatened until he surrendered his loot, was already bad enough but what followed was even worse. Yang simply walked down the path like any other day, until she heard two women arguing.

" _Just get in the car."_

" _Stop please."_

Yang was at first taken aback. All around her where houses, her path home was through a filled neighbourhood. These two were so loud. She couldn't be the only one hearing that right? Her gut feeling told her that what she heard could NOT be good so she ran to where the voices came from.

" _How dare you cross me!_

" _Stop it! Let me go! No"_

Yang quickened her pace after hearing the voice of one women become even more desperate. Finally arriving at her destination, she caught the glance of the two the voices belonged to. One was clearly drunk from the way she mumbled slightly, pushing the other one (sober and scared)into the direction of a black, with tainted windows equipped car. Her grip was too strong for the scared women to get out of.

" _Ow! Please, s-stop!"_

How was no one else hearing this!? There were houses all around them, someone had to wake up from all that commotion! Right?

Even though those thoughts weren't at the centre of her mind.  _"I need to help her!"_

Curse her and her Hero complex.

" _Stupid whore. You think you're worth causing me trouble huh? ME!?"_

" _I-I'll call the police!"_  A desperate attempt to get her to back off. The drunk women reacted just like Yang guessed she would, arrogant and uncaring.

" _Heh, call them if you want! The police are my bitches! They won't take you serious at all"._

Speaking of bitches, Yang was about to make that whore hers. She approached the two, both fists clenching in preperation for an eventual fight.

" _No… Stop!"_

" _Girls like you are good for nothing. Incompetent. Worthless. You all just need to shut up while I steer you all. Is it too much to ask for a reward there? Now… get… in… the… CAR!"_

The drunk women than managed to rip her victims blouse open. The look of despair in her face was heart-breaking. Nothing but fear and disgust.

Yang couldn't watch anymore. " _HEY! Get away from her!"_  she shouted at the drunk.

The drunk one snapped her head back, glaring at her. Meanwhile, her victims face now had a tiny bit of hope in it.

" _This isn't a show. Get lost you little brat!"_

" _Help please!"_  the victim cried out for her, clinging to this tiny straw of hope in front of her.

" _Will you!"_

The women never got to finish that sentence as Yang decided to act. Grabbing her by the shoulder, she pushed her away from her victim. As a response, she threw a punch at her, which Yang managed to dodge with ease. Her drunken state was not doing any favors for her though and she fell to the ground.

* * *

 

She FELL. Without Yang punching her or anything.

But of course that wasn't what everyone else believed.

Soon after, the whore stood up again, saying that she would destroy her. She even forced her victim to testify against her and say that Yang attacked her. And only after that did the police finally arrive. Faster than Yang could say 'bullshit', she was blamed for assaulting the women and even blamed for the injuries of the victim, the one that she saved.

It was all lies. She TRIPPED! Yang didn't do anything... not that the police cared.

What infuriated Yang the most however was that she didn't remember who it was!

She didn't remember anything about that woman at all! She didn't remember the person who ruined her life! Try as she might, Yang couldn't remember ANYTHING! Not her name, what she looked like, or even her voice!

She took down the left sleeve of her shirt, just enough so that her shoulder would show and grimaced at the scar there due to how brutal the police were as they pushed her into the ground. Not only that, but she was pushed into a shattered glass bottle that some guy had left there. The glass dug into the flesh, leaving a nasty scar.

Even the wound she got was worse than that of the whore! All she got was a tiny wound on her head. There wasn't even blood or anything! It looked more like a bug bite. However of course no one was interested in what she had to say.

But of course that wasn't what anyone was interested in. No one was interested in what she had to say.

Instead the judge and the jury ate up what they were served. They completely bought the story of her assaulting some innocent women.

But maybe they were also bribed by the armada of lawyers Mrs. Whore hired. All the while she didn't make an appearance at all! They gave some excuse of 'protection' and 'trauma'. Yang was close to snapping more than once during this farce. When she told them that the women forced herself on the victim and Yang was trying to save her… they LAUGHED!

Given her previous reputation as a girl that liked to solve problems via punches, her school also bought into the act. Even her so called 'friends' did. Now she was expelled from school, had a criminal record and didn't had a single friend in this world left.

It's fair to say that her life sucked.

Thankfully her dad, who actually cared enough about her to believe her, arranged something. He managed to get her enrolled in a place called Haven Academy, away from the judgemental stares. He hoped that she would be able to spend her year on probation in peace. Her guardian for the time was supposed to be a friend of her father. Someone she never heard of but who her dad obviously trusted enough. Some guy named Qrow Branwen.

Sighing Yang covered her shoulder once more with the fabric, deciding that it wasn't worth thinking about all that anymore. She would meet Qrow soon enough and thinking about how she got here would probably end with her destroying her cabin.

Grabbing into her backpack she took something to distract herself with. A set of cards, tarot cards to be precise.

They were a parting gift from her dad. Just why he got her that in particular of all things, was a real mystery for her. It's not like she could read tarot cards. For some reason her dad was fascinated by those however, so she had some idea of what each Arcana represented. Besides, they were nice to look at. Yang looked at all the Tarots one by one as she continued to ride on the train, her gaze clinging a little bit too much at the Arcana of the Fool. She vaguely recalled what it stood for.

" _Fool. Number 0. The card of unlimited potential. It can be considered the beginning and the end of the Major Arcanas. When upright it represents beginnings, innocence, spontaneity and a free spirit, reversed it stands for naivety, foolishness, recklessness and risk-taking. It is important for the Deck. So important in fact that the Major Arcana are also called the Fools journey… wait what?"_

Yang did a double take.

And laughed out loudly as she got the pun her dad made, feeling a bit better about herself now.

Yes. She really was a Fool wasn't she?

* * *

 

One hour later, the train finally came to a stop. The announcers voice calling to her and the other passengers. Something about Ladies and gentleman thank you for choosing us… that whole stuff.

Yang completely blocked it out and instead grabbed her things and went to the door. Allowing her to be the first one to leave. Was this how criminals felt when they left the bus to the prison halls? Probably just her imagination, because Mistral at the very least appeared to be anything but a prison. Busy streets, tall houses.

She recalled that many decades ago Mistral valued its wildlife but after the main capital grew more and more they had to expand. So they built, more and more, destroying a lot of the nature they cherished so much long ago.

Now the only way to cherish its beauty was to leave the capital and go into some of the quitter towns.

Yang took out of scroll, checking if she got the address to Qrow right. Even though, somehow she was not in a hurry to go there. It's not like she was carrying much with her anyway, most of her stuff having been transferred already. That and she could really use something to eat. Qrow may work in a Café of sorts but that was no guarantee for him suddenly having a plate of food prepared for her.

Perhaps a good cheap dinner was somewhere around here? With some light presses on the touchscreen the Internet browser opened and she already searched for where to eat…

When a different app suddenly opened.

Yang frowned upon coming face to face with this… bizarre symbol. Coloured in black and red what looked like an eye with a star as a pupil. It quickly enlarged, taking over the entire screen. Not only that but… it began to shift? No, the screen itself started to warp around the mysterious app.

" _I don't remember downloading something like that."_

With that in mind, Yang pressed on the app to swiftly delete it.

Which wouldn't do much as she found out the next second, the app magically reappearing and taking over all of her screen once more.

" _What?"_

She deleted it once more.

And it appeared again.

And again.

And again.

By the sixth time Yang deleted it she restarted her scroll.

And it appeared again.

" _Oh that's just great! Now I have a virus on my scroll! Things just keep getting better and better!"_

During her inner rant, she sadly overlooked the women directly in front of her.

"Crap so-"

She halted midway through her apology.

Why… why wasn't she moving?

The blonde was confused at first, what… how… this woman just stood still like some kind of statue.

She didn't need long to find out it wasn't just her.

Everyone around her, men, women, children, everything just… stopped. As if someone pressed pause on the world itself.

Yang now became worried. What the actual hell is going on here? Was she imagining this? Was this some sort of dream?

As she overlooked the sea of frozen people, one thing in the distance caught her attention. Fire? She took a closer look. Yes, blue, hot fire. Something stood behind the flames, concealed by the azure. But it was what was visible inside the flames that made her gasp and her eyes widen in disbelief.

It was herself! Yang was staring at a version of herself that was more demon than human. Inside the flames she stood, with gleaming, BURNING red eyes, wearing a vicious smile. The flames whooshing around her, the demon wearing her face reached out with her right hand...

And then the world continued.

Like nothing happened.

The fire was gone and so was she.

Now it was Yang who stood like a statue.  _"W-What the hell was that!?"_

Was she becoming really insane now?

She turned to walk away, mind still not able to function properly after this strange experience. Maybe she was just that hungry.

All the while, the app on her scroll was forgotten.

* * *

 

To Yang's pleasant surprise there was a cheap dinner only 10 minutes away from the train station. Filling her stomach with a steak, she felt a bit better now. A lack of hallucinations of her with red eyes helped to bring her down as well. Sadly, she just knew that this wouldn't last long, not if she was about to meet her caretaker now.

After some walking, searching, asking and an uncomfortable talk with a policemen (what was it about her that seemed to piss of the police?) she eventually found herself right in front of a small Café on a side street connected to the main street. Her home for the next year. Qrow didn't had any room in his house left. Worked just fine for her, no reason to interact with him more than necessary.

In black letters on white background, the name of the Café was very clear to see. Crow's Nest, it said.

" _Huh… pretty good pun."_

Now, how was she going to approach this? She didn't know just how this Qrow guy acted. He seemed to like puns so… maybe start off with one?

Eventually Yang reminded herself that sooner or later she would have to get in, the door swung open and she entered the Nest.

It was surprisingly cosy. The smell of warm coffee filled her nostrils, mixed with cookies and… curry? Fairly comfortably looking seats were to her left, with an elderly couple drinking and talking peacefully. To her right was the counter and behind it a large collection of different coffee beans. In the back was a small staircase, leading up to the attic (her room she assumed). In a corner next to the staircase was a small TV and above it was… a toy scythe? So Qrow seemed to have somewhat of a childish side. Still, why would someone have a toy scythe placed over their TV? In case you watch something and suddenly need to grab a weapon for whatever reason? No use thinking about that now.

Speaking of the Crow, he was sitting behind the counter, making a crossword puzzle. He thought out loudly as he scratched his head with a pencil. "Hmmm… the name of a shellfish used for farming pearls…"

"Isn't that an oyster?"

Qrow perked up at the unexpected answer, coming face to face with the blonde he had to take care of from now on. He gave a small smirk, checking if it fit. It did fit. "Not bad kid. I was thinking about that for the last ten minutes." He broke eye contact as the elderly couple told him they were finished and wanted to pay. Quickly taking care of that, he turned his attention to Yang. "So… you're the kid huh?"

Yang nodded, taking a good look at the man in front of her. He seemed fairly sympathetic. He wore a red, tattered cloak with a grey dress shirt, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. He also had a ring on his right index finger, two other rings on his right ring finger, and a necklace with a crooked cross-shaped pendant.

He made a good first impression on her, smiling and all. Maybe this won't be so bad?

"Yeah I'm Yang. It's SCYTHE to meet you Qrow." Not her best pun, but the best thing she could come up with right now.

And with one word the smile instantly faded. "Yeah about that, make another pun and I kick you out instantly."

"What!?" Yang protested. "I thought you liked puns!"

"What the hell gave you that idea?"

"Your café is called CROWS Nest!"

"That's because Tai always said whenever I brought up that I want to have a café, that I need to call it Crow's Nest. At one point I was just done arguing and the name was stuck in my head. That doesn't mean I like puns, only that I'm not that creative."

Correction… it WAS going to be bad.

Yang sighed, and here she was already thinking about all these possible Crow puns. What a shame.

"Anyway," Qrow pulled her out of her thoughts, "Yeah. My name is Qrow Branwen and you will be in my custody for the following year. Your dad told you everything already?"

Yang nodded once more.

"Good. Than come. I'll bring you to your room." he said while mentioning for her to follow him to the staircase. So she was going to live in the attic. Well, maybe it was clean.

…

…

…

"Is this a joke?"

"I just told you I'm not one for puns kid."

"It's cluttered as hell in here!" Yang protested.

The attic was a DISASTER! Piles of old newspapers taller than her, bags of garbage forming a pyramid, cobwebs in every corner, decimetre thick layers of dust, the only place that didn't seem to be filled with garbage or dust was the mattress in one corner of the room. How was anyone supposed to live here!?

"Do I look like some kind of maid to you?" Qrow retorted in a bored tone.

"Do  **I**  look like a maid to you!?" Yang snapped back, putting emphasis on the 'I'.

"Well you could pull it off better than me."

"This doesn't mean I…"

"Look kid," Qrow shut her down, "I have a business to run. I can't take care of everything. Besides I already did half the work."

THAT was half the work!? Was here a garbage disposal before a Café!?

Sighing, with great protest, Yang relented and grabbed herself a broom, while Qrow went back down, taking care of non-existent customers. In a way it was fitting. Society already saw her as trash, why not take care of real trash in the attic. That's at least what she thought, cynically, as she began her work.

After hours of cleaning, Yang finally was able to call the attic inhabitable. It was actually pretty spacious. A couch was to the left and in the corner next to it was a work table and a large shelf to her left. Not soon after she looked at her accomplishment, a whistle could be heard behind her. It belonged to her caretaker who was visible impressed by her work. "I don't remember the last time it was this clean in here. You would make a great maid kid."

Yang rolled her eyes at the comment, especially when Maids get payed for this kind of stuff. Hmmmm... maybe she could find one for cheap? Thoughts for later... or maybe never. She wasnt exactly swimming in money.

Qrow approached her, a neutral expression on his face. "Now… I got the gist of your situation. You got into a fight with some women. You ended up attacking a second women too who tried to intervene and she sued you for assault which is why your here."

Okay, Yang could NOT let that stand. Her pulse began to rise. The court even made it look like the whore who ruined her life was the hero "I didn't attack anyone. I saw some drunk women force herself onto another, even tearing her blouse open. I intervened and then the bitch sued me and twisted everything."

Qrow sighed a bit, "Yeah that's what your father told me too. That your innocent and all."

"And your tone makes me think you don't believe either of us right?" Yang accused her guardian.

"Well I know how Tai can be. He is loyal to those he cares about and he is not above trying to make them appear in a better light than they actually are."

Wow. That must be the most concealed way of saying 'I think you're an asshole' that Yang had ever heard… this week. Yang spoke through closed teeth. "I am innocent."

"Either you're that or you're crazy. I simply like to find out for myself if you don't mind."

Yang didn't even bother to reply to that. Who knows… maybe she was crazy. Or she was just becoming crazy from all that crap happening around her. Or maybe this whole world is on its way to going crazy!

"Look, just don't get involved in any trouble for the next year, than your probation will be lifted. If you can do that, you won't be send to juvie. Well go to Haven Academy tomorrow to introduce you to the staff." Qrow next grabbed something from his pocket, a small silver key. "Here is the key to the Café. I don't want to always wait for you to arrive to close up shop. Don't do anything stupid or I'll take it back and just lock up every night. If you're than not inside you gotta look for another place to sleep. Got it? Don't make me regret giving you this."

She nodded and grabbed the key, safely putting it into her pocket. Qrow grinned at the fact that the troublesome kid he took in could listen. Hopefully it would stay this way.

"Alright then. I gotta go home. Feel free to get yourself accustomed with your room. Don't stay up to late. I won't be the one taking care of you if you get sick."

With those words he left her alone. Going home to his small house down the street.

One year.

One year she needs to lay low and try to not get involved in any trouble. Why did she had the feeling this would be hard?

Yang put her things away and changed into her sleep wear. The usual battle about wether or not to wear the prostethic during her sleep had the usual outcome. Even if it was uncomfortable it still was better than this feeling of uselessnes she had when she took it of.

She was exhausted. Tomorrow was going to be painful she could already guess. Her introduction at Haven Academy and probably finding out how she really wasn't wanted here and how she wasn't supposed to do anything stupid. Not that she hasn't heard that already for the thousandth time.

Her own scroll rang however before she could even lay down on her bed. A message from her dad.

**Dad: Hey little sun dragon. How was the trip?**

**Yang: Well I finally got the pun you made with your gift. Pretty good one I have to admit.**

**Dad: Hahaha. I knew you understand it eventually. :D**

**Yang: Yeah, even if it's kinda harsh to call me a reckless fool you know.**

**Dad: Hey now. That's a compliment! Fools are good people. There should be more like them.**

Yang rolled her eyes, but managed to smile.

**Dad: How was the ride? And how is Qrow?**

**Yang: The ride was way too long and I am exhausted. That and I had to clean the garbage disposal centre aka. the attic aka. my room. Qrow is… lets say sceptical.**

It was the nicest word Yang had to describe the man.

**Dad: Oh… sorry to hear that. Well a good nap is going to take care of that. Wow was it really that bad? Why am I not surprised. Qrow you dirty old bastard. He never cleaned up after himself.**

**Dad: But he is a good guy. You get used to him eventually. It just takes some time to get through that shell of his.**

**Yang: How do you even know each other?**

**Dad: It's kind of a long story. We helped each other out and were good friends along with some other people. We lost contact at one point for some time but I still say that he is one of my best friends.**

**Yang: I see…sounds like you'll have to expand on that sometime.**

**Dad: Maybe. Well, it's good to hear that you arrived, and all is well. Try and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be important after all.**

**Dad: Well its god to hear you arrived all well. Try and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be important.**

**Yang: Oh yeah I get to introduce myself to a place that doesn't want me and where I don't want to be. Yay! (sarcasm over)**

**Dad: Look Yang… try to enjoy your time there okay? I know that the circumstances are… not great, but don't let that ruin your fun. I am sure you can find some people to hang out with. You always were good at finding friends.**

**Yang: Am I? Last time I checked my 'Friends' stabbed my in the back when they believed a random bitch with a lot of money more than me.**

**Dad: I stand to what I said. At least try to have some fun okay?**

**Yang: …Alright I try.**

**Dad: That's my girl. Good night.**

**Yang: Night.**

The chat was closed with that and Yang linked her scroll to the charging cable, preparing herself to sleep.

Before going to bed though, she wanted to do one thing for herself. Something that hopefully could get her mind of things.

Laying down on the mattress, she searched on her scroll and soon found a particular video. Hitting play almost immediately the talk show she selected started to play.

"Welcome back everybody to 'Good morning Mistral'! I am your host Lisa Lavender and I introduce to you the newest celebrity. He has made quite a famous reputation for himself already in such a short time some popstars would be jealous. The new detective prince himself, Mercury Black!"

Yang couldn't help but smile as she saw the young man with silver-grey hair walk on the stage, taking a seat and chat with the reporter.

Now Yang knew what some people may think. Why was she of all people so happy about some random celebrity in a show?

Well the answer is simple. This boy, in a way, saved her life.

When Yang lost her arm 2 years ago, she was in a dark place. She felt like she was suffocating, with no way out. She felt absolutely hopeless, became resentful and… was not on good terms with her father. Today she knew that she was acting irrational but she needed someone to blame for the accident that screwed over her life (first accident now). It actually still weighed heavily on their connection.

Nowadays she realized that Taiyang wasn't responsible for the car crash. The asshole who drove the other car (and died upon impact) was drunk and should have stopped at the red light. Maybe she was envious of her father? He was knocked unconscious but had no lasting injuries. Meanwhile, she lost her arm. It was… a dark chapter of her life she didn't like to look back to and something that sometimes hovered above the two like a dark rain cloud.

That was when she heard of a young aspiring detective named Mercury Black.

At first she wasn't interested at all, thinking he was just another pretty boy who got famous for some stuff no one really cares about. Than however, she found out that they shared one big similarity. They both lost a part of themselves. In his case he lost both of his legs.

It was this information that caught her curiosity in the boy and she ended up watching one of the interviews. She was fascinated by him. He lost his legs but was still able to stand proud in the world. He talked with the adults like it was child play, being taken serious by them and feared by some even. His sharp mind and his resolve was something entrancing. Mercury emitted so much confidence and was able to do so much good as a detective. He brought probably more criminals behind bars then she ever could beat up bullies.

Yang often asked herself how he was able to do it. How was someone able to continue on, even so successful, after losing a limb? It seemed so unexplainable to her. The idea just… alien.

Then she asked, why shouldn't she try the same? That same day she first tried on the prosthetic her father arranged for her. She still wasn't always doing so well. PTSD isnt something that just goes away sadly. But Mercury, even if he never knew, helped her overcome one of the darkest times of her life.

After that Yang became a big fan of the detective, watching all his interviews and regularly checking on a website made by fans for him. His fans called themselves 'Meromantics'. A combination of Mercury and romantics.

It was the stupidest name Yang had ever heard.

Still, even if his fans were insufferable at times, she really cared about the young detective. She wasn't crazy about him like some of his fans, but she still admired him.

Yang once decided to actually thank him for what he did for her and wrote him a letter after finding out his address. Not with her real name though. She wasn't ready to embarrass herself like that. Instead she wrote him with an alias. Yang never knew if the letter actually reached the detective but she liked to think it did and that he at least in some form knows just what he did for her.

Thinking about it. He lived in Mistral. Maybe she could meet him by any chance?

Pah, yeah right. And next thing she knows he has a way of clearing her record.

Well… a girl can dream cant she?

Watching the interview till the end, Yang was finally able to be at ease and put the scroll next to her after setting up an alarm and went to sleep.

* * *

 

She woke up.

Blinking a few times to get the sleep out of her eyes, she reached next to her for her scroll. What time was it? She hadn't heard her alarm yet, maybe she could sleep a bit lon-

Why was her arm so heavy?

Yang blinked a few times, there was a strange weight on her arm, as if something was clinging to it. Getting a good look at herself, she was shocked.

She was chained up!

Shackles around her wrists, both her flesh one and her prosthetic one, a heavy chain connecting them. Not only that, but her comfy sleep wear was replaced with a tattered old, white and black striped prisoner uniform.

When did they get there!? Who put these on?

Yang looked frantically around, trying to find some reason in all this. She was in a prison cell of sorts. Blue walls all around her, beneath her was a hard plate of a bed, that was about as nice to sit on as on a stone.

This was so… surreal. Could this be a dream?

She released a sigh, allowing herself to relax. This was only a dream. A really weird and bizarre dream, but a dream nonetheless. She was no stranger to nightmares but she never thought to have One where she was locked away. On second thought... maybe all that happened to her lately was having an effect on her dreams.

With that in mind she looked a bit more around her. A small steel toilet was in one corner of the room, the ceiling of her cell was a never-ending black void. Only one side of her cell had some light shine through. It was the same one that had metals bars before it, formed to be some kind of door.

She stood up from the bed and walked towards the bars. Her walk was stopped for a moment as she realized that a chain to her left leg was also present, connected to a manacle. Despite that she stepped forward, happy about the long chain, and looked out, placing her hands on the bars. On the outside was a circular room. Several other cells just like hers were visible from where she stood. But one thing stood out the most. At the very centre of the room was a table. It alone held such a present as if it was the core of the universe. Behind it stood… a woman. But than again… Yang didn't know such a woman could even exist. It couldn't have been some kind of woman. It was some, some creature taking the appereance of a woman with pale, alabaster white skin. Her clothes were such a dark black it sucked the light away. Black veins were all over her body and her eyes… those eyes would haunt Yang in her nightmares. A pitch black sclera where it would usually be white and blood red irises gleaming, as if to represent a dying star in the endless void of space. The woman in front of her smiled, crossing her legs and reaching out with her hand, as if she was supposed to grab it…

and the woman spoke.

"Trickster. Welcome to my Velvet Room."

Yang was speechless. What… what is this? Who is that… woman? Why did she feel this strong urge to run away from her? As if the power she held by simply existing, was a constant warning to stay away?

"So you have appeared inmate."

She snapped out of her shock for a brief moment to react to a voice to her right. There stood a man, fairly tall with a noticeable moustache, wearing a blue uniform that could belong to a prison guard. "The you in reality is currently fast asleep. What you are experiencing is, in layman terms, a dream." The man continued, as if he knew of Yang's questions and could somehow see in her mind.

" _Okay so I am dreaming. Good to know. I already thought that but thanks for the clearification. Now… please explain to me everything else that is going on here."_

She hunched over, grabbing her head. Was this a mental shutdown? Did those people before her experience just this? A feeling of bitter cold washed over her.

"You are in the presence of my mistress! Stand up straight inmate." the moustache man remarked. For some reason, call it primal instinct, Yang listened to him and turned towards the woman. Her eyes completely focused on her as she spoke. "Welcome. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a contract may enter."

That… didn't explain anything. When did she make a contract?

"Just who are you?" Yang asked out loud, still starring at the woman as if she was an alien. She only chuckled before replying. "You may refer to me as Salem. I am the mistress of this place. Remember it well."

Yang didn't think she would ever be able to forget this moment.

"Alright Salem," Yang asked, "Can you tell me what I am doing here?" At this point, the blonde was desperate for answers and was willing to risk being around this… thing.

"I summoned you to speak of important matters. It involves your life as well. In fact, your live is currently in danger as we speak." Salem answered, her guest. The causality in her voice all to present.

Her life was in danger.

Her life was in danger!?

Yang reacted violently, like a caged animal still possessing some fighting spirit. "LET ME OUT!" she roared as she pulled at the bars, she wanted away from that thing. Away from here. She was NOT willing to die at the hands of this woman!

An electrified baton interrupted her fruitless escape attempt, the static crackling in the air and the bars vibrating from the impact. "Know your place inmate! Who do you think you are talking to?" The moustache man harshly belittled.

Completely ignoring her small outburst, Salem looked around the place, inspecting it with a judgemental stare. "Still this is a surprise. The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. It seems that you truly are a prisoner of fate. There is no doubt. Ruin will surely await you."

"Are you kidding me!?" Where did this rage come from? Was it from hidden fear? Was it something the prison pulled out of her?

Salem chuckled, amused by this display. "Be at ease my child. There is a means to oppose such a fate. We need to rehabilitate you. Rehabilitation towards freedom. That is the only way you have to avoid ruin. That being said…tell me… do you have the resolve to challenge the distortions, running rampant in this world?"

Yang thought about that. This Salem… was offering her help wasn't she? The blonde still didn't knew just what was going on but she figured at least for now… she should listen to Salem. "Well I rather avoid ruin if possible."

Salem smiled, did she already knew her answer? "Very well. Then I shall observe the path of your rehabilitation."

"Alright? I guess…" Was all Yang could reply. Than she remembered the man to her right. If Salem was already offering her help… "By the way who is he?" she pointed to the man with moustache.

"Oh, pardon me for not introducing him to you. His name is Arthur Watts. He shall be your warden during your stay."

"I as well serve the function of your collaborator." the man now known as Arthur Watts told her in addition, "If you remain obedient that is."

Obey? Obey these two strangers? Yang didn't like that thought but as of now… she didn't had many options either way. With that in mind she nodded, hoping to get on good terms with these two beings.

"Now then" Salem spoke again, immediately dominating all attention, "as pleasant as this meeting was, the night is waning. It is almost time. Take your time to understand this place. We will surely… meet again."

With that… an alarm rang through the room. Yang lunged at the bars, wanting more answers to all that was happening. Though her attempt was in vain…

And everything around her faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the second chapter is out!
> 
> Now to clear some things up.
> 
> 1: Was that Watts? What is he doing here? Why is he the Velvet Room attendant?
> 
> So a fun fact about the Velvet Room attendants. Did you know that they are all named after characters from the story of Frankenstein?
> 
> Yeah the names, Caroline, Justine, Elizabeth, Theodore, their all present in the story of Frankenstein. Now what crazy scientist of RWBY is most likely based on Frankenstein? Watts. I mean… come on how could I NOT use this?
> 
> I know the velvet room attendants are twins in the game but like I said not everything is the same here. There will be a few changes. One of these just so happen to be that Watts replaces two twins.
> 
> 2: Was that Mercury?
> 
> Yep he sure as hell was. I assume you can all guess what role he will fill. I liked Goros arc in the game but it wasn't as flashed out as it could be so I changed that. There is more to our detective here.
> 
> Besides it was actually important for me to include Mercury early on. See… Persona 5 has the theme of underdogs and opposing society (again fitting for Yang) however with Yang as the protagonist there is an interesting thing I can explore.
> 
> Losing a limb has some very traumatic effects. That and society will obviously be aware of that. Something like that integrated in a story about opposing society would be interesting. Yangs interactions with people who would point that out and their reactions makes for a good addition.
> 
> With Mercury early present in the story I may be able to dive deeper in this, besides I have heard that people who lost a limb tend to be more comfortable around people who suffered a similar trauma.
> 
> I even thought about them meeting already. Maybe Yang stumbling into Mercury but than again… that would kind of be plot breaking. I mean imagine if Goro would have joined the Phantom Thieves against Kamoshitbag. Goro probably wouldn't even need the Metaverse to ruin him.
> 
> 3: So… what happened with Yang?
> 
> The girls been through a lot that's what happened.
> 
> That and Yang has kinda a hero syndrome of sorts in my opinion. Her whole live revolved around taking care of people. That's not healthy. When than such a behaviour is punished by the world, we get a bit of a cynic. Don't worry she will get over it eventually.
> 
> Speaking of Yangs mental state will play a huge role in this story. So be prepared for that.
> 
> 4: Why Mistral?
> 
> I thought maybe I should clear this up as well. See… I believe Mistral just works for this story. It is about the most east part of Remnant (with the game taking part in Japan in canon that was as close as I could get). It is mostly the same as in canon except that the main capital is a lot more advanced. I may have ended up turning Mistral into something similar to Tokyo.
> 
> Sorry for everyone who is disappointed at this. But well its not like Grimm are a thing so every kingdom had more opportunity to grow.
> 
> There was a part of me that wanted the story to take place in Vale but than yang wouldn't be as isolated. She clearly has no problem at all randomly getting to Vale from Patch. Than there was a part of me that wanted to send her to Atlas and I did thought about that a while. Ultimately though… I just settled on Mistral. That way I could still keep names like Shibuya…
> 
> Hey don't be like that. Its not like I had much to work with, they never really shown us that much of Mistral. And I already had thought up other stuff.
> 
> Okay lastly: Luckenzio asked a pretty interesting question. Given the History of Persona Characters would Yang somehow be involved in harem shenanigans. Well i havent considered it to be honest. Shipping isnt really a priority in this story as of now. I do am curious however if some of you guys would even be interested in this. So tell me what you think about it. For now though i just want things to go at a natural pace.
> 
> Alright with that out of the way. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It was way longer than i planned it to be. Next time on Golden Rebellion: We shall see Yangs introduction at Haven and met a few new faces that will play an important role for the Trickster in training. And our first main Villain will likely Make an appereance.
> 
> Until than have a good day!


	3. Welcome to Haven

**April 10**

Yang awoke in a cold sweat. She wasn't in a prison cell anymore. Her sleep clothes had replaced the prison uniform again and nowhere where chains or signs of these… creatures.

Just what was that dream? It felt FAR too real. It couldn't have just been a hallucination and she was sure she wasn't suffering a mental shutdown. She could still think clearly, despite her confusion. She never heard about a person named Salem or an Arthur Watts either.

" _What was all that about? Ruin, rehabilitation? And who the hell is Salem?"_

She tried to push away these thoughts, the memory of Salem however always remaining. Those red eyes. Like the ones of this demon she saw (IMAGINED… she had to imagine that) when she stepped out of the train. The only differences in their eyes, was that her sclera wasn't black like the ones from that Salem being.

She grabbed her scroll. She still had around 30 minutes to get ready. She could think about it later.

Telling herself she needed to wake up now, Yang left her bed and put on the Haven Academy Uniform. She didn't particularly had something against it, but it DID feel a lot different than her old Beacon clothes. Maybe this feeling was from the fact that it was a Sunday and she never wore school clothes on a day like that. The blonde took a good look on herself and decided that it could still use some… personal touch. Grabbing her favourite purple cloth, she tied it around her left leg. She may be on probation but she wouldn't get expelled over something like that. When she finished dressing herself, she heard a voice from the stairs leading down. Which just so happened to be her guardian.

"Oh good your awake." Qrow greeted with a slightly grumpy tone in his voice. "I didn't want to walk in on you still dozing of."

"Well you won't need to throw a bucket of water at me today."

Qrow raised both of his hands in defence, "Geez someone's moody today. What gives?"

" _Oh I don't know? How could I possibly be in a bad mood when the first thing I see today is such a walking ray of sunshine like you after having a completely messed up dream over a white skinned demon queen? Better let that first part out."_

"I had a crazy dream that's all. I was chained up and there was this strange woman…" Yang stopped midsentence. How could she even hope to explain that experience? Hell she actually… experienced it and was still confused.

Qrow seemed now a bit embarrassed though, eyes wide and prepared to cut Yang of. "Kid I do NOT need to hear about your wet dreams okay?"

"WHAT!?" Yang shrieked. "HELL NO! That wasn't…"

"It doesn't matter!" Qrow interrupted her attempt at a futile explanation. "I do not need to hear your dreams okay?"

"Noted but I didn't… hell why should I talk to you about… I am not some kind of pervert." she shrieked again her face becoming a slight shade of red, something mirrored by Qrow. A small panic was growing inside her too. What would he think of her now?

"Look let's just drop it. I won't speak about it and neither do you. Deal?"

"Ähm… deal." Yang took what she could get to get out of this awkward situation. She as well made the mental note to never again tell people about the Velvet Room. Not only to avoid another situation like this, but so that no one would believe her to be insane. Still, she had a very horrible knot in her stomach. Would he throw her out?

There was a small silence, both letting the air around them become a bit quieter. Qrow cleared his throat and spoke again. "For the record I don't have anything against homosexuality. "

"I'm bi actually." Panic or not, Yang had the urge to correct that.

"Still cool with me. Now come on I drive you to Haven today. Tomorrow you will have to take the train." Those were Qrow's final words on the topic before he turned and walked down the stairs. Yang, while not showing it on the outside, was insanely relieved. There were a few times where… she got bad reactions. Her guardian not throwing her out and even being fine with that part of her, was something Yang was incredibly happy about. Maybe he really wasn't that bad of a guy?

Contemplating over it now would only cost them more time though, which is why she picked up her steps and went after him.

* * *

 

The ride to school was silent and uneventful. Something that ended up being completely fine with Yang, it gave her an opportunity to get a better look at just what kind of town she will be spending her time in. Yesterday she didn't really consider nor had the time to explore a bit so this small trip was the best she could do right now. They arrived about half an hour later at the front gates of Haven Academy. She assumed it looked… nice? Well, it wasn't ugly by any means but it was a pretty big distinction from her old Academy.

Before what she assumed to be the main building was a great Quad leading up to the main building. A fountain could be found at the centre of it. Wooden benches and lamp were lined along the perimeter, undoubtedly for students to spend their breaks on. Currently, it was all empty, emitting an almost ghostly feeling to the young woman.

Qrow and Yang had already crossed half of the way towards the main building when the guardian came to an abrupt hold, causing Yang to almost walk into him.

"Oh for the record" he started turning to face her, "do me a favour and behave yourself in there. Alright?"

" _What have I done so far? Seriously WHAT? It's not like I am some stuck up brat that demanded a five star hotel. Hell I cleaned up your attic aka. My room. I could have just, you know, thrown a tantrum or something. Instead I decided to just clean it up. Is that NOT good behaviour?"_

"Okay I will." NO need to cause any unnecessary problems. Something that was appreciated by the old Qrow. But he wasn't done just yet.

"Good oh and… I wouldn't mention to anyone that your Bi in your position."

She blinked.

…

" _OF… FUCKING… COURSE!"_ she cursed in her mind, in utter disbelief. What kind of God did she anger to end up here!?

"Are you saying that school is homophobic?" she asked with slight venom.

"I actually don't know about that. But let's be honest,"

" _Let's bi honest. Sorry I couldn't resist."_

"You don't need even more attention drawn to yourself. The teachers will already have an eye out for you and if one of them just so happens to hate your sexuality it could only be a matter of days till you're thrown out for some stuff." He told the girl, explaining the situation. Well… at least there wasn't an outright ban. But she had to admit, Qrow may have a point. Adults were not above lying or making up stories just to punish someone they don't like. She had already experienced that after all.

"You're not exactly in a good position."

" _So I've heard."_

"I understand." How was she ever going to get through this whole thing without losing it?

It still was enough to satisfy her guardian "Good. For the record I don't care what happens to you. I just don't want you getting me in any trouble."

She only nodded and continued on her way.

* * *

 

"To reiterate, just so were clear."

" _And now to the next episode of 'Yang is the spawn of the devil himself'!"_

Oh how grateful she was that mindreading was only existent in the realm of fiction. At least in her thoughts she could openly express her sheer displeasure about the whole situation.

They were now finally in the headmasters office, shaped like a half-circle, with another, smaller half-circle jutting out to the room's front door.

A large desk made of mahogany dominated the space of the autumn-coloured office. Behind said desk was no other than the headmaster of Haven, Leonardo Lionheart. To her great surprise however he wasn't alone. With him in the small office was one more woman. To his left was a blonde haired woman with glasses, holding a textbook in hand. No doubt one of the teachers, who was probably just overlooking what kind of trouble they were in now. For some reason she appeared exhausted to Yang.

"You will immediately be expelled if you cause any problems." the Headmaster spoke, trying to embody authority. It almost forced a chuckle out of Yang. It was really hard for her to take him serious. Maybe it was because of the way he looked in contrast to how he was. He just didn't look like the big boss of something.

"Honestly, I hesitated on accepting someone like you, but there were some circumstances on your side."

" _I honestly would like to know what buttons dad pushed to get me here."_  Yang wondered, paying Leonardo only the bare minimum of attention she needed to get this over with. It was obvious just how much he was trying to intimidate her. It backfired hilariously.

"You might have done a variety of things in hiding back at home, but you WILL behave yourself here."

" _I have been at nothing BUT my best behaviour since you saw me! And about those things in hiding? I never actually picked a fight were someone was NOT in immediate danger or problems. But of course you don't care principle… ugh… what is a good lion pun?"_

"If you are thrown out from our school, there will be no place for you to go. Keep that in mind."

" _I have heard so. GOD why is everyone such a dick!?"_

"On a side note," Lionheart added, "Even though your handicap is a shame, do not expect any special treatment from the faculty staff. Your prosthetic should allow you to be just as productive as other people your age does it not?"

"Yes." she lied.

And what did he thought of her? Of course she wasn't expecting any special treatment. Not even the jury, likely with bribe money in their pockets, gave her any. Not that she would have accepted it either.

Lionheart motioned to the blonde woman to his left. "This is your teacher Miss Glynda Goodwitch. She will be in charge of your class."

"I am Glynda Goodwitch." she said to her. The almost monotone sound was catching Yang of guard.

" _Wow you sound even more bored then I am."_

"Here is your student ID." She gave her the student ID. Yang took it with her prosthetic. If they were surprised they didn't show it.

" _Act a bit more robotic why don't you?"_

"Be sure to read the school rules. Any violations will send you straight to the guidance office. And if by chance you cause any problems, I won't be able to protect you at all." Glynda warned Yang sternly.

" _Of course you can't. Or wait… you don't want to right? Oh of course I am right. Can we please just get over with this farce already?"_

"That is your promise, yes Headmaster Lionheart?" she asked the Lion Faunus

" _Holy fuck you actually don't even hide that you have sworn yourself against me."_

He nodded towards the teacher "Mhm. She is responsible for all her actions."

" _Yes I am. I am absolutely responsible for preventing a RAPE! Where is the fucking logic here!? I save a women and now I am treated like the villain. Seriously what the fuck!? Ugh… why do I even ask myself that question anymore? I swear I never help other people again. Being selfish in live, THAT is what brings you forward."_

"But really though, why me…? There should have been better candidates."

" _What do these people think I am a walking bomb!?"_

"It was a sudden transfer and you're class was the only one that had an opening. But I am sure you will be able to handle this… issue."

" _This ISSUE is standing right before you and has a NAME!"_

"Are we done here now? Can we get going?" she heard from her right. Qrow was getting just as annoyed as she was.

" _Thank you! I want to be as far away as possible."_

Lionheart nodded but still asked something from him "Mr. Branwen, please keep a close eye on her. Don't let her cause any trouble outside."

"Yeah, yeah are we done here?" Qrow was being impatient. He may be an ass but at least they could agree on this situation just being a waste of time.

Thankfully, Lionheart nodded once more. "We are about done here yes. All that would be left are any questions Miss Xiao Long may have."

" _I have so many questions but none of them are in any way helpful."_

"I have one." she still asked, making all heads focus on her. As if she was an attack dog barking for attention. She sighed…

"Can one of you tell me where the restrooms are?"

The meeting ended soon after and all participants disbanded going their own ways

* * *

 

Glynda rubbed her forehead, trying to discard the raggedness that loomed over her. It shouldn't be a surprise for anyone who knew her. Teaching the minds of a new generation could be very tiresome and her class can give her quiet the headache, on top of… certain responsibilities. To add on her worries she now was stuck with Yang Xiao Long of all people.

She did her research, she called the staff. The blonde was a troublemaker like taken from the pages of a book, costing Beacon Academy a lot of nerve. Constantly getting herself involved in fights, it was in retrospect only the sign that she sooner or later would lose it. Attacking that poor woman one day, an outburst of what was long being foreshadowed.

Than… why was she so different from her expectations?

She was fully prepared to lecture some problem child, instead Yang just stood there. Only saying yes and nodding with everything they said. Maybe she wasn't that bad? Was here anger maybe a product of her-?

" _No. Don't even think about going there Glynda."_  she reminded herself.  _"Just let the student go. Don't attach yourself to her. It will only cause problems for you and her."_  There was literally no reason for her to care about the new student more than about her other ones. She already had her condition for years and if she doesn't want help she wouldn't give her any. But for some reason… a part of her couldn't shake it off. The carnal desire to guide this young woman. Probably a relic of her beginnings in teaching.

"What a troublesome situation." She heard someone call out to her. Facing the voice she saw a very recognizable person among Havens staff. A fairly tall man, with red hair and a set of Bull horns to match. He greeted her with a bright smile, that somewhat managed to ease her current mind a little, yet didn't took away her surprise.

"Mr. Taurus what are you doing here?" Taurus only chuckled, "Please Glynda its Adam, you know me long enough by now."

She rolled her eyes, with her lips slowly curling into a smile. "Okay than I ask again. What are you doing here ADAM?" she made sure to put emphasis on the name of the Faunus. "I simply came here for some extra practice. You know, making sure the equipment is all functional, we don't want the students to hurt themselves now don't we?"

"Of course." Glynda remarked. She had to admit she was impressed by just how considerate the PE Teacher was, using his own time to ensure that the students of Haven could enjoy a safe lesson.

In general the Bull Faunus was a blessing as far as she was concerned. Not only for the school.

Adam Taurus started out as a small name in the sport community. Claiming small victories in certain competitions one after another. His outstanding performances amazed the masses and even allowed him to perform at the Vytal Festival. In multiple disciplines he astounded the world, earning medals and even breaking a world record!

Many magazines called him a Hero, a role model that the Faunus population deserves. Singlehandedly Adam gave his, at times sadly still oppressed, kind someone to look up to. When he then retired and joined the Staff of Haven the school received such fame that it became one of the most renowned schools in the whole Kingdom! Needless to say the efforts of his Volleyball team where to thank. Glynda did saw the bruises of the students though but Adam always pressed how he cared for the students and that he never went out of line during their training. Glynda had not much reason to doubt him. He was a Vytal athlete after all. When there was one thing he knew about, than it was how to train aspiring athletes. She did wonder sometimes what kind of rigorous training he put himself under however, to achieve the accomplishments he made.

There was of course the Wukong accident, but one can hardly blame Adam for acting in self-defence.

"Besides," Adam added to the topic, now looking concerned for the fellow teacher, "I have heard about the new student arriving today. I figured I might as well take a look at the problem child our faculty will have to deal with now and I wondered if you may need any help."

Glynda appreciated Adams concern but denied his offer, "Thank you Adam really, but I don't think I will need much help. Besides after what happened with Wukong you shouldn't waste your time with this. No need to get yourself involved with anymore foul apples."

"Probably, but what should I say? I can't help but worry." Adam remarked, "But make sure to tell me when Xiao… something ever does something. I'll take care of it."

"Her name is Yang Xiao Long and thanks again." Despite some deep part of her not wanting too, she couldn't supress her sigh though, "I keep wishing that she just doesn't arrive at school though."

"Remind me again why she was admitted here?"

"As far as I know it was Lionhearts decision. Something about it being very lucrative for the schools reputation to reform a delinquent I think."

Adam scoffed, "And here I thought I would have already had that covered."

"Well you know Leonardo. Always striving for the school to be better." It could honestly be annoying at times.

Adam stretched his arms, clearly satisfied with his work done. "Well I am going home now. I finished everything for today, so I might as well get myself a bit of rest."

Glynda shuddered at the word 'rest' the idea sounded heavily. She didn't remember when she had the last good nights sleep. "Do that then. I see you tomorrow." And as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Adam bit her farewell, walking through the hallway and soon after out the school.

Glynda looked after him,

If only Yang would be more like Adam.

* * *

 

" _Come now my love. Don't you feel satisfied around me?"_

His words rang in her ears, like a curse upon her. She hurried into the bathroom, slamming the door open. It was weekend so no one should be distracted by it anyway. On quick feet she reached towards the sink, immediately letting her hands drown in its hottest water.

" _I am sure there are ways I could make you feel… more comfortable?"_

She could feel how the content of her stomach was revolting. She splashed her face with the borderline boiling water. It hurt, but was a welcome distraction. She made it just so hot that it wouldn't leave any questionable marks too, an expertise she gained after some time. She reached back into the sink, scrubbing her hands violently, as if she was a surgeon preparing herself for an operation with her nails as her scalpels.

" _Alright than if you won't welcome my attention than maybe our friend Ilia will?"_

Her 'scalpels' dug deep into her hands leaving marks, they would soon fade, they always do.

" _This decision is completely yours. It's all up to you Blake."_

Blake looked into the mirror in front of her, golden eyes reflecting on the surface. Blake once heard about Lions who were captured in the wilderness of Vacuo, being very clearly recognisable among the ones who were born in the confinement of a Zoo. After enough time of being locked away, enough time to break their souls, their eyes would glaze over, the colour inside them becoming dim, their gaze empty.

Blake started to believe that she could relate to these creatures on more levels than just her feline features, her eyes becoming dimmer with every day.

She cursed in her mind. Why did this had to happen to her? She attempted to control her shaky breathing unsuccessfully. "Calm down Blake." she whispered beneath her breath. "This is nothing. A few kisses, a few touches nothing else. Remember your doing this for-"

She heard the door of a stall open behind her and her shaky breathing stopped, replaced with fear of a whole different kind.

* * *

 

Yang… did not expect this.

After being given the directions and… going about her business… she thought she was done for today. Just a quick travel back with Qrow, maybe grab something to eat along the way and preparing herself for the Chaos tomorrow. She DIDN'T expect to open the stall door and find a girl on the edge of a breakdown. Being… more than familiar with these things than she liked to be, she knew when a person had their mental stability stretched to the limit and the Cat Faunus had done more than that.

For a moment she fought with herself, just watching the girl who froze completely. She was likely regretting not checking if any of the stalls were being used. Should… should Yang talk to her?

She than reminded herself of the last time she helped someone and of the vow she made in her mind mere MINUTES before this situation. Was she really going to break it already?

…

After much thinking (as much as you could in the few seconds she stood there) she walked up to the sink next to the Faunus, washing her hands. After drying them she finally decided to say something. "Hey. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Yang could see right through the girls lie. She was most definitely not fine. Should she press the issue? Luckily she didn't had to because the mysterious Faunus did so herself, never looking at her while doing so.

"It's just… do you know these days where it's like the World has sworn itself against you?"

Yang almost laughed.

"Believe it or not I do."

* * *

 

This made Blake now question her sudden company more. Getting a good look at her, she looked into purple eyes, looking right into her. Then she noticed a certain appendage that was unlike what she saw before.

A yellow and black metal arm.

A small shame surged through Blake. Here she was crying over something she should be used to and this woman lost an arm and was getting worried over her. She suddenly felt uncomfortable. "I'm sorry I leave right away. I didn't want to worry you."

"Meh its fine. For now why don't you tell me what has gotten you so worked up?"

For a brief moment Blake considered telling her. Only to have his threat appear in her mind once again.

"It's nothing really just some… problems with a relationship of mine." She wasn't lying. Anyway, better to get out of here and get home. "My name is Blake."

* * *

 

"Hello Blake, I am Yang." Yang told the Faunus she just got the name of. So this Blake had issues with romance? Yang actually felt for her, knowing all to well that it can suck to be in a relationship. Or get out of one in her case.

"And what kind of relationship problems do you have? Did your boyfriend break up with you?"

"No that's not it. I… look I really don't want to talk about it. Thanks for your worry but… Ill better be going."

"Hey now wait up." she called out while grabbing her by the arm with her prostethic. Blake flinched a bit as the metal met her skin, starring at the appendage, unsure how to react.

This was were Yang got it. "I see. It's the arm that's bothering you."

Blake denied almost immediately. "Oh no that's not it. Well I admit I don't know how to react but its not making me uncomfortable."

"…Really?" that would be a welcome change from the usual.

"Yeah its… well serious question, how do you prefer it to have people act with… you know."

"I rather just have people say nothing about it. I don't want to be constantly reminded."

"Okay than… Yang how about we met tomorrow at the School and I show you a bit around? You just met me at a bad day that's all. Tomorrow I could give you a proper introduction."

That was an unexpected proposal if Yang ever heard one. "Sure… I guess."  
"Great." Blake stated before hurrying out of the bathroom and giving Yang a quick goodbye.

…

"Well that just happened."

* * *

 

"Uuuuuugh. The traffic is not moving at all!" Qrow cursed behind the wheel.

It was true, the whole street was full and nigh impossible to pass through. Yang could swear if they now started walking they would reach the Café sooner than they would with the car.

Deciding to pass the time in a different manner, Yang turned on the radio, all the while searching for a good frequency.

" _Breaking in so we can break out! Breaking in so we can break out!"_

Good song but Yang was not in the mood for it.

" _Another accident happen today on the Ginza line towards…"_

"Another accident?" Qrow spoke in a mixture of worried and annoyed. Yang changed the frequency again. She had enough bad news for one day.

" _It has been confirmed that the series NCIS: Mistral, plans to adopt the chain of murders committed by Tyrian Callows in a two hour long…"_

Yang could hear Qrow scoff at the last one and he switched the radio of. "Not a fan of the show?"

"Not in the slightest."

There was a small silence until Qrow decided to break it. "They treat you like some sort of nuisance."

"Oh really? Didn't notice it." the sarcasm was evident in her tone.

"Well that's what happens when you get yourself involved in the matters of adults."

This got Yang angry. She scowled at her care taker, "What was I supposed to do!? Let that women get raped!?"

"I didn't say that." Qrow quickly intervened before she could get even madder. "But maybe things wouldn't have escalated this much if you instead called the Police on her instead of trying to settle everything yourself. I did hear about your reputation at Beacon Academy."

Yang growled beneath her breath. He wasn't wrong. Her infamous reputation wasn't doing her any favours.

" _Heh, call them if you want! The police are my bitches! They won't take you serious at all."_

The words rang through her ears again, her pulse began to rise.

"You did punch her yes?"

Her rage spiked. "I didn't do anything. She fell on her own." Yang said through closed teeth.

She could hear him sigh again before she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Look… I think you did the right thing."

This now caught Yang's attention. Her anger faded a little at those words. Did… did someone just really said that? She did the right thing? Well she knew that obviously but still, after so many times arguing with her former 'friends' she didn't expect anyone to say this. The blonde was speechless right now, not sure how she should best react. This Qrow guy was the first person aside from her father to tell her that she wasn't in the wrong. Looking him in the eye, she saw honesty, no ill intent. He… he was serious. "You think so?" she asked despite it, as if to make sure.

Qrow nodded at that. "You did the right thing. The good thing. The thing everyone should do. But… you didn't do the right thing for yourself."

Yang couldn't argue against that. Considering how it ended for her, the right thing for HER personally to do would be to walk away. Then she wouldn't have a criminal record, then she wouldn't have to move so far away, then she wouldn't be treated like the garbage she just threw out.

Still, she didn't regret it. Despite the world punishing her for it, Yang knew that she was right and it was the right thing to do dammit! Even if she sometimes hated herself for it, she would do it all over again if it means helping someone else.

It was her fatal flaw. Heroes of legends mostly had hubris or wrath (the last one likely applying to her as well) but her main flaw was that she just needed to help. The situation in the bathroom was a PERFECT example. She couldn't keep her vow for less than a few minutes.

The rest of the drive was spend in silence.

* * *

 

"Talk about a gruesome accident." Qrow said while looking at his Scroll in shock. After hours of traffic they finally arrived in front of the Café, a moment that Qrow took to investigate just how severe it actually was. "Eighty people were involved."

"Holy crap." Yang could only comment. That sounded bad. "Were there any casualties?"

"Well as it stands now some injuries but no corpses except for the carrier of whoever drove the damn thing." he put the Scroll away and reached into his pocket, pulling out a diary and a Key.

"By the way, because you're on probation you need to record your actions. Just write them in here. And here is the key to the shop. I don't want to always wait for you to arrive. If you ever so much as think about misusing that ill have you kicked out faster than you can think."

Yang nodded, taking the objects from him. He soon said goodbye mumbling something about being unable to open up shop today.

She decided it wasn't worth staying up any longer and headed straight to bed. This was some bullshit day. As she lay there on her bed, contemplating the course of things, she couldn't supress her sigh, the realization that she was stuck her for one year fully settling in, "Welcome to Haven."

Yang was about to just close her eyes and sleep as a text message went on her Scroll. Thinking it was her Dad Yang picked the scroll up only to see a different number.

**Neon: Hey. Youre alright?**

With an angry scowl Yang deleted the message and forced her eyes to close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorther chapter this time. But honestly I was getting impatient and just wanted to publish something before the next month. Next chapter should become much longer in comparison though.
> 
> And you know the drill guys.
> 
> 1: Wait ADAM takes Kamoshidas place? This cant be good.
> 
> It wont be. But aside from that… lets be honest what did you guys all expect? Is there anyone BUT Adam in the RWBY universe who would fit Kamoshidas place? I mean… abusive piece of garbage? Check. Gigantic asshole? Check. Wants to have the Cat girl of the group all to himself? Check.
> 
> Now I did think about making Adam still a terrorist leader but… we need some form of start, we cant just jump right in to taking down terrorists. A teacher just fits this role. And Adam was the most logical choice. So I as well reinvented the White Fang.
> 
> BTW: I genuinely felt disgusted writing scenes with him.
> 
> 2: Blake as Ann?
> 
> Yep Blake as Ann. On a related note. I hate to hurt her like this.
> 
> Oh by the way. I rethought a little and… I likely wont make this a Harem story. I had this idea out of nowhere and sometimes those things need a little… refining. besides I never wrote a harem story in the first place and one of the only reasons I thought of it was because I am a Fan of Polythieves. but I don't think this transfers over to this. So this COULD become a Bumblebee story but… well I am still in the process of ironing it out. Don't worry I tell you guys when I finally settle on the ships.
> 
> And yeah I headcanon Yang as Bisexual. She just seems to me like the type to not really care about gender. If we ever get an official sexuality I might change that. Sorry for anyone who headcanons her as a lesbian I really didn't want to offend you.
> 
> 3: So Glynda doesn't know?
> 
> Nobody does. Adam is one manipulative bastard.
> 
> 4: The Wukong accident?
> 
> I think it should be clear who takes Ryuji's role isn't it?
> 
> 5: What is Neon doing? Why does she have Yangs number?
> 
> You will just have to wait and see wont you? ;)
> 
> Well with that all said I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time :)

**Author's Note:**

> Oh dear just how did Yang got into this situation?
> 
> Well I assume some of you already have a good idea.
> 
> So first I think it would be good to get some questions out of the way.
> 
> 1: Will this be just a novelization?
> 
> No it won't be. It will follow the original game but I have my own few touches here and there. I even reworked a lot of the Thieves. And I can tell you now I didn't stop with the codenames (there's a reason why Yang is not named Joker by the way). I have some ideas in mind that will make this story different from the game. On that note, there are even different personas most of the time. But because of that there will be no persona evolution. Why? well simple. Its really damn hard to come up with persona designs. And even harder to actually come up with characters to base them of. Seriously I have a whole new respect for whoever thinks up the designs for the personas at Atlus.
> 
> But it was pretty fun and I CANT WAIT to see you guys react towards what Yangs starting Persona will be revealed as. It wont be goldilocks or Arsene. I have something WAY better. :)
> 
> 2: What's up with the Thieves and Yang?
> 
> Well for starters, I didn't feel like reusing Akiras/Rens/Jokers outfit so I reinvented something. Clothes are in the Metaverse a symbol for your rebellion so I figured something out that would be fitting for Yang. Considering her character and motives what you just read is the result. Now I am not sure just how good I managed to bring her design across though. I would like to give you a picture but I can't draw to save my life.
> 
> Basically it's a combination of Velvet Crowe from Tales of Berseria, Yangs original design in the show, some dragon mixed in and some of Jokers Thief outfit. I really don't think this is farfetched.
> 
> On that note if there is anyone willing to make art of it than I would really appreciate it. Ill happily make it the cover image.
> 
> 3: Why Yang and not Ruby?
> 
> I just KNOW that some are going to ask and the answer is very simple.
> 
> Yang just works way better for this story.
> 
> Persona 5 is themed around rebellion and taking justice into your own hand. Really Persona 5 pretty much embodies the Justice Arcana. Yang just fits this better than Ruby in my opinion. that and once I actually got around to developing who would play who, it was a no brainer for me that Ruby would fill Futabas role.
> 
> If Ruby would be the protagonist than I would honestly say Persona 4. 5 just doesn't work for her. She can shine way better in a different role.
> 
> That and quite honestly? Ruby is ALWAYS used for these type of stories. Whenever there is a crossover than its almost always Ruby the one who takes the lead. Either her or Jaune. I am bored of this. So yeah… Phantom Thief Yang is starting this thing of everyone.
> 
> So with that said, get in and prepare folks this will be a long one.
> 
> Until next time where we will find out how Yangs journey started.


End file.
